The FBI just visited me.

lay1back · Feb 10, 2017

Less than an hour ago m doorbell rang. The two men at the door were from the FBI. One was an FBI Agent, the other was NCIS. Both had proper identification, I checked it twice.
They told me first off that I was not in any trouble. Then they asked if I had any intention of harm toward our government.
They said their purpose was to find out if I was the drone pilot that flew over a local military base, or if I knew or any other pilot who might have.
They found my videos on YouTube and knew I flew locally. They were very nice, just trying to clear a complaint made by the Army.

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nssdrone · Feb 10, 2017

I feel like you left out the most important factor, did you fly there?

lay1back · Feb 10, 2017

No. They asked to see my drone (DJI 3pro) and said the drone that was reported to them was larger (possibly an inspire)

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lay1back · Feb 10, 2017

They said that flying over the base is not illegal, but they were wanting to know the reason for the flight and who it was.

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lay1back · Feb 10, 2017

Of course, that's just what "they said". I should have asked them what was my checkbook balance...they probably had checked me out beforehand.

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AgileHumor · Feb 10, 2017

Sounds like a reasonable visit given the circumstances. Thanks for cooperating and not acting like the other JA on this board that feel obstructing authorities is helpful to protect your "rights" by being rude to law enforcement (whom are normally just doing their job).

lay1back · Feb 10, 2017

They were very nice, actually complimenting my videos. They didn't intimidate me at all. I think the question about intent to harm government was one of their necessary questions asked of everyone.

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lay1back · Feb 10, 2017

Oh, they did ask if I had registered with the FAA. And said that they will use the registrations to check other local pilots. I was easily found because of my YouTube post.

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anotherlab · Feb 10, 2017

lay1back said:
They were very nice, actually complimenting my videos. They didn't intimidate me at all. I think the question about intent to harm government was one of their necessary questions asked of everyone.

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That may have been triggered by ISIS using Phantoms as a means to drop small bombs on their targets. One thing that you could has asked them was who to contact on the Army base if you wanted to fly there. While it's legal to fly, if they know who is flying the drone, they will be less likely to be bothered by it. Or at least one would hope that would be the case.

lay1back · Feb 10, 2017

I have no interest in flying over the base...I concentrate my flights closer to ship traffic and boats along the coastline.

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lay1back · Feb 10, 2017

As they left, I thanked them for doing their job.

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lay1back · Feb 10, 2017

The funny part: My girlfriend came home while they were here. I told her they were FBI... she didn't believe it, so they both showed their I.D. She said that we shouldnt tell any of our neighbors. (They're a snooty bunch)

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tcope · Feb 10, 2017

lay1back said:
They were very nice, actually complimenting my videos. They didn't intimidate me at all. I think the question about intent to harm government was one of their necessary questions asked of everyone

I can appreciate the question (i.e. understand why it was asked), the only _slight_ issue I can see with this is "investigating" something they knew was legal. The only concern I have over this is the intent. In this case I think the intent was a good one. An example of the opposite is being pulled over in a 65mph zone for driving 65mph (legal act) but to "investigate" the possibility that something else might be illegal. That is not acceptable. In this case they are using a "complaint" of an action they state is legal to find out if something else might be illegal.

Let me say, I think flying over a military base is probably not the best thing to be doing but if it's legal, it's legal. If it's just a knock on your door and a nice conversation, fine. But what were they expecting... someone to tell them they were just trying a practice run to see if explosives could be dropped on the base? We saw this just a few weeks ago from a SHARK video where local animal owners are filmed with a drone and the police "investigate" the situation. It becomes apparent that they are really pushing the boundry of harassment.

Again, I'm not really saying my personal opinion is that this should not be investigated, only that we do need to understand that there is that line that can be crossed. In this case it seemed like law enforcement was very understanding and really just crossing the t's and dotting the i's so they can tell the complainant that it was "investigated". I think the fact that it was a sensitive area probably justifies a visit.

tcope · Feb 10, 2017

Let me just add... the military bases I have around me are NFZ. Military testing grounds as well. I don't know why this would not be the situation of the base in question.

kennedye · Feb 10, 2017

I kind of wonder if DJI will be asked to add certain areas to their NFZ list; right now for example the P-51 airspace over Naval Base Kitsap here in the Puget Sound area isn't even on the list.

lay1back · Feb 10, 2017

I was a police officer years ago. I know they didn't just show up. I'm sure they did a criminal background check, and pull up whatever information the had before they arrived.
What they didn't know, they wanted to see. It's me and my girlfriend, and a labradoodle living in a upper middle class neighborhood. An old fat white guy who is a hobbyist drone pilot/videographer. I'm sure their report concluded...move on, nothing to see here.

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AnchorageAk · Feb 10, 2017

I was taking to a guy at the range the other day. He had put up a ad on a local buy/sell board for a pressure cooker. They where not so nice when they visited him. He even showed them his garden, and all the stuff he canned.

Raptorman0909 · Feb 10, 2017

Did they say which base was flown over? If so, which base was it?

Brian

lb650 · Feb 11, 2017

AgileHumor said:
Sounds like a reasonable visit given the circumstances. Thanks for cooperating and not acting like the other JA on this board that feel obstructing authorities is helpful to protect your "rights" by being rude to law enforcement (whom are normally just doing their job).

[emoji106]

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JCP10 · Feb 14, 2017

lay1back said:
Less than an hour ago m doorbell rang. The two men at the door were from the FBI. One was an FBI Agent, the other was NCIS. Both had proper identification, I checked it twice.
They told me first off that I was not in any trouble. Then they asked if I had any intention of harm toward our government.
They said their purpose was to find out if I was the drone pilot that flew over a local military base, or if I knew or any other pilot who might have.
They found my videos on YouTube and knew I flew locally. They were very nice, just trying to clear a complaint made by the Army.

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Don't doubt your story--just wondering why NCIS (that's NAVY, not Army) would come--Army has it's own CID. Interesting they checked out your video on YT. Little unnerving, I would think.